Night Run
by Master thief Gray Shadow
Summary: Umi was willing to go to great lengths to make Nico happy, even if the price of doing so was somewhat high.


Supposedly, in one's dying moments, one's life would flash before their eyes. A dying person would have a chance to reflect on the life they lived before leaving it, to evaluate the choices they made before their immortal soul is plucked and hauled off for judgement. As her knees gave out from under her Umi was coming to realize just how true this was. The bitter cold had long since rendered her numb, and the way she was clutching the equally frigid package to her chest was not helping in the slightest. The world was shrouded in icy mist, she could barely see three feet in front of her in the snow, and all this only served as a grim reminder of her impending doom. Her impending failure. She could not fail this mission. She could not. Weakly she attempted to pick herself up, but it was to no avail. As she knelt in the howling wind and snow, a single thought broke through her consciousness. _I'm sorry...Nico, I'm sorry…_

 _RED ALERT: BLIZZARD WARNING_ , read the banner that flashed across the TV, interrupting whatever soap opera drama had been occurring. Umi, though, had been paying little attention. She glanced up upon hearing the emergency broadcast noise blare loudly, before shrugging and going right back to her book. It was 10 at night, it wasn't like she was going outside anytime soon. Her plans for the evening were cuddling with her wife and nothing else, which she would get right onto once said wife returned from the kitchen. Umi had just gotten reabsorbed into her book again, back into a passage about rations in early polar expeditions, when she was pulled right back out of it by a cry of despair. A cry of despair that came from the kitchen.

Umi nearly threw the book as she leapt up from the warmth of the kotatsu and ran towards the kitchen. It was adjacent to the living room so perhaps it wasn't a huge trip or anything, but she had no time to spare. Umi gasped as she was greeted by the sight of her wife, sprawled out on the kitchen floor, tears streaming from her eyes.

"Nico! Nico, are you alright?" Umi rushed over, a hand quickly moving to Nico's protruding stomach, massaging gently. "Is...is the baby alright?"

Nico sniffled a little before looking up at Umi. "The baby's okay," She said through tears. As if on cue, Umi felt a small movement against her hand. A kick. Umi sighed in relief. "But I'm not."

Umi's concern returned as quickly as it had vanished. "Why, what's wrong? Please, Nico, you're scaring me."

Nico hiccupped before reaching a hand up and pointing. Umi followed Nico's finger to find...an empty ice cream carton? Jeez, rooting around for ice cream on a freezing cold night like this...Umi sighed. One would think Nico would be preoccupied with keeping warm, but pregnancy seemed to have a funny way of overriding common sense. "Are we out of Strawberry Supreme again?"

Nico nodded, her own hand now resting on her stomach. "She needs it Umi. She won't let me sleep if she doesn't get it."

Umi glanced up at the window. The snow was falling quite heavily now, being outside was probably not ideal. But the convenience store was only at the end of the block...hm, an ice cream run couldn't take more than ten minutes, maybe fifteen, tops. But a storm could brew in as little as five… Umi looked back down at Nico, who was now gazing up at her with big, watery eyes. Oh gods. Umi's lip began to tremble as she glanced between the window and Nico, and soon she felt her love for her wife overtaking whatever self preservation instincts she had left. Umi sighed in defeat before leaning down and placing a soft kiss on Nico's lips. Nico kissed back just as gently.

"Alright. I'll get you that ice cream," She said as she broke the kiss. "But you have to promise me you'll get off the floor and get nice and comfortable under the kotatsu, okay?"

Nico smiled up at her. "Mmmm...I guess I could do that." Nico reached up and pulled Umi down for another kiss, this one a little more passionate. Before things could get too heated Umi pulled away, called by a sense of duty. She grabbed Nico below her shoulders, helping her to her feet. It turned out it was a little difficult to pick oneself off the floor when pregnant, especially considering how Nico's small frame was so strained by the baby growing inside her. When they were finally both upright Nico turned around to place one final kiss on Umi's lips. "Don't take too long," She said as Umi went to grab her coat.

"I won't, don't worry," Umi said reassuringly, wrapping her scarf around her neck. She placed her hat on her head as she opened the front door ever so slightly. "I'll be back soon, I promise."

Oh for heaven's sake, it was utterly freezing. Umi's teeth chattered as she wrapped her arms around herself in a desperate attempt to preserve some warmth. At least the wind was blowing against her back and not her face, especially since the snow seemed to be getting heavier. Umi gave a long exhale, her breath turning white and curling around her head like smoke as she plodded forward. She could just barely see the sign hanging down from the front of the convenience store, and she zeroed in on it.

 _Crunch. Crunch._ The sound the snow made beneath her boots was crisp as she finally approached the store. At last, at last she was free from the howling wind and blood-freezing cold. Umi heaved the door open, the bell attached to it tinkling. The middle-aged clerk did not look up from his magazine as Umi closed the door behind her, but it was clear he didn't need to.

"Wife needs ice cream again?" He said, nose still buried in the magazine. Something about modified cars.

"Do I really do this that often?" Umi said as she made her way to the freezer. She scanned the shelves for the thing she came all the way here in increasingly heavy snow for. All for Nico. Umi smiled a little. The things she went through for her wife…

"Yeah, but even on a night like tonight?"

"The baby was kicking, she said she might not be able to sleep." Triple Moose Tracks, Lemon Sunshine…Umi scanned each flavor as she searched the freezer shelves, finally letting out a small 'ah!' upon finding it. Strawberry Supreme. Umi had tried it once out of curiosity and found it to be nauseatingly sweet, but Nico always seemed to be inhaling the stuff even before she was pregnant. She opened the freezer and grabbed the carton before walking over to pay for it.

The clerk chuckled as he finally looked up from his magazine. "That's dedication," He said as he rung her up. "You're even dedicated enough to go home in that."

"I'm not worried, the trip here was…" Umi's words died in her throat as she looked toward the window. If what she walked her in had been wading a mile in waist-high water, this was going to be swimming a mile in the open ocean. "...nothing." Outside was a full-force blizzard, plastering snow against the windows, massive sized flakes swirling violently in the unruly wind. Umi approached the window, leaning in and placing a hand above her eyes to allow herself to look outward. Barely anything could be seen in the night, the snow and darkness rendering no visibility at all. The only things that could be seen was the fuzzy glow of a few odd streetlamps, their light the only thing interrupting the darkness.

"Are you gonna be okay?" The clerk seemed genuinely concerned. Umi walked back over to the counter, quickly paying before grabbing the ice cream.

"I have to be," She said. "I need to get home.

Umi did not regret leaving the warmth and comfort of her home all for Nico's sake. Even as the wind howled and the snow stung and her extremities grew increasingly numb. All that did was embolden her conviction, remind her that she had to get home. She had to. Nico was waiting for her. She had to. Against the icy wind she walked, even as the snow piled on the sidewalk and impeded her progress. The parts of her legs that weren't frozen solid were screaming, and her grip on the ice cream was doing little to help her stave off the cold. In fact it was probably doing the opposite. And yet she pushed forward.

Umi lifted an arm to shield her face from the stinging wind. What horrible timing. Perhaps if she'd hurried on her way to the store she would have been able to get home without facing the full fury of the storm. Maybe by now she would be holding Nico in her arms and feeding her the ice cream straight from the carton, wrapped in a warm blanket under the kotatsu. Umi scowled. It was too late for regrets now, and all she could do was move forward. Problem was, it was difficult to measure how much more forward she would need to move. She glanced behind her to see that the lights from the convenience store were only barely visible in the storm. Difficult to measure how far she'd gone, too.

Umi forged ahead. It was only a few minutes, but it felt like hours. Umi's breath came out in great white puffs, her chest heaving with the effort. Her fingers, her toes, the parts of her face that she had bared to the cold, they were numb. Umi blinked once, feeling a sense of fatigue overcome her. She wanted to be home. She wanted to be with Nico, and she was getting there, but she was running out of strength. Her vision was growing blurry, and perhaps this time it wasn't because the snow was obscuring it. Could she make it back? Or was she a walking corpse on a doomed quest? She plodded forward slowly on shaky legs, hoping and praying that they would stay steady. But as the cold surrounded her, even they gave way.

Umi found herself on her knees, wondering if she was going to die, and her only thoughts were on her wife. Her wife, who was carrying her child, who she had gone out on this whole crazy mission for. Who needed that ice cream to sleep soundly. Umi shivered as she knelt in the snow. _I'm sorry...Nico, I'm sorry…_

Wait. Umi squinted, as if to keep her vision from tricking her. Was that something in front of her? Drawing on what little strength she had left, Umi hoisted herself to her feet. She took a few shaky steps forward, ignoring the ache and numbness that now seemed to permeate her entire body. Slowly but surely she approached. Her eyes widened as she realized what she was seeing.

A stairwell. The stairwell to her apartment building. She was home.

Umi's strength seemed to renew itself as she began to climb the stairs, and the slight shelter from the harshness of the storm certainly helped. Even as she was borderline out of breath she climbed, she climbed and climbed, until finally, she reached the right floor. The final stretch. She only had to brave this storm a little longer before she would see Nico again. With purpose she strode across the balcony and finally, _finally_ reached the door. Nico was just on the other side.

With a still somewhat numb hand she fumbled around for her key. She was shaking so much that it took a few tries for her to get it into the lock, but she managed to do it. There was no bitter cold as she closed the door behind her. It was only slightly cool. But she was fine with that. It was better than being outside. She could hear the TV playing quietly. Seemed that soap opera was still on. Umi smiled. "Nico, I'm home."

There was no answer. Umi shrugged before beginning to shed her layers, her hat, her scarf, her coat. She felt a slight chill as they came off but she knew it wouldn't last long. She'd be warm soon. After finally removing her snowy shoes she tiptoed down the hall, the ice cream still in her arms. The sight that greeted her drew out a small sigh.

It seemed that at some point Nico had indeed made herself very comfortable, having wrapped herself in a blanket and crawled under the kotatsu. Perhaps she had made herself too comfy, because now she seemed to be sleeping very peacefully. Umi sighed again and shook her head.

"At least you kept your end of the deal," She said to herself as she went to put the ice cream away. The moment her hands were empty she made her way back to the den, crawling first under the blanket and then under the kotatsu, pressing herself close to Nico. Umi gazed down at Nico's sleeping face, noting the soft noises she would make with every exhale, the little puddle forming under her mouth. Umi smiled as she cuddled up to her wife, placing a gentle kiss on her cheek. She swore she saw Nico smile in her sleep in response.

"I love you so much," Umi said softly, before finally giving into her own exhaustion.


End file.
